The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security has started strictly implementing the policy of charging Rs 10,000 as service fee from workers going for foreign employment. The government will take action if the service fee exceeds this.

Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Deepak Kumar Sah issued a video message on Saturday, giving the message that this policy is being strictly implemented. ‘Currently, there is a provision that government-licensed foreign employment business organizations can charge only Rs 10,000 for sending them for foreign employment,’ he said in the video message. ‘If anyone has charged or demanded more than the specified fee or has any other complaints related to this, the ministry appeals to all concerned to contact them immediately and report their complaints or problems. ’

He has requested that in cases of excessive fees, they should inform Hello Government (1111) and Shramdhan Call Center (1141) to file a complaint. The government has also started inquiring at Tribhuvan Airport whether youth going for foreign employment have been charged more than the prescribed fee or not. The Department of Foreign Employment has started writing to the manpower companies charging high fees to send details.

‘A complaint has been received that the organization has sent workers to countries like Malaysia for employment without complying with the prevailing laws related to foreign employment,’ the department wrote in a letter sent to the manpower company on Chaitra 17, ‘Therefore, how many workers have been sent to Malaysia by that organization? What are the contact numbers of the workers, how much fee has been collected from the sent workers? You are requested to appear at the department immediately with proof of payment of the fee, without changing the details until later.’

The employer has not been covering the cost of the workers. 10,000 service fee is unreasonable - Bhuwan Gurung , President,  Nepal Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs Association   During the time of the then Minister of State Tek Bahadur Gurung, on 26 Jestha 2072, an arrangement was made to charge only 10,000 rupees as service fee for workers going to major destination countries Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, UAE and Malaysia, stating a policy of free visas and free tickets.

Nepal Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs Association has been calling this policy unreasonable . Which is why it has not been strictly implemented . Association President Bhuwan Gurung said that manpower entrepreneurs do not charge any fee from workers when the employer pays all the expenses including air tickets, visas, service fees.  ‘However, the employer does not bear the cost of the workers . 10,000 service fee is unreasonable . Visas, tickets, processing, documents are all huge expenses . Therefore, a policy should be adopted to pay service fees equivalent to at least one month to the entrepreneurs,’ he said .

Only 7 percent of employers bear all the expenses of the workers - Pitambar Ghimire , spokesperson, Ministry of Labor There is a government policy that workers going to Korea and Israel must bear the ticket expenses themselves. Ministry of Labor spokesperson Pitambar Ghimire said that only 7 percent of employers bear all the expenses of the workers. '7 percent of workers go for free without any burden,' he said at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Labor on Wednesday, 'Out of 93 percent of workers, some are provided tickets by their employers. Some go on their own. This is a very important issue. Many people are affected by this. We will come to a conclusion on what can be done by understanding this well and taking advice from experts. Our final destination is the employer pay model.'